BacterioFiles Episode 10

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Category: BacterioFiles

Created on Sunday, 18 April 2010 00:00

Written by Jesse Noar

In this show, I report on four exciting stories: bacteria for digesting sushi; a giant virus that replicates itself, with help; microbes living in Mars-like lakes; and using viruses to generate hydrogen.

Download Episode (12.4 MB, 13.5 minutes)

Show notes:

Story 1: News items 1 2 3 4/Journal paper
Story 2: News item/Journal Paper 1/Journal paper 2
Story 3: News item/Journal paper
Story 4: News item/Journal paper

Other interesting stories:

• Bacteria for decomposing marine plastic pollution
• Algae that take bacterial supplements
• Bacteria that affect greenhouse gases
• Growing new species
• Cyanobacteria that secrete oil
• Slime mold-based computing
• Another hostile lake with microbes in it
• Extremophiles focused on survival
• Dinosaur-age microbial fossils

BacterioFiles Episode 9

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Category: BacterioFiles

Created on Monday, 05 April 2010 00:00

Written by Jesse Noar

In this show, I report on four exciting stories: bacterial fingerprints, bacteria in space, fungi that swap genes, and bacteria fighting for resources.

Download Episode (10 MB, 11 minutes)

Show notes:

Post questions or comments here or email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Thanks for listening!

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This show features music from Mevio's podsafe Music Alley.

BacterioFiles Episode 8

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Category: BacterioFiles

Created on Sunday, 21 March 2010 00:00

Written by Jesse Noar

In this show, I report on four exciting stories: a plant-fungus symbiosis, making algae make medicine, fighting cancer with a virus, and making biofuels out of wood scraps.

Show notes:

Story 1: News item
Story 2: News item/Journal paper
Story 3: News item 1/News item 2/Journal paper
Story 4: News item/Journal paper

Other interesting stories:

• A bleeding glacier
• Probiotic chewing gum
• A biochemicals production company
• Microbial Underground
• The search for quantum behavior in viruses

BacterioFiles Episode 7

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Category: BacterioFiles

Created on Sunday, 07 March 2010 00:00

Written by Jesse Noar

In this show, I report on five exciting stories: a bacterial electric grid, engineering biofilms, beewolves that use antibiotics, tiny bacterial magnets, and microbial life's potential on Mars.

Download Episode (14 MB, 15 minutes)

Show notes:

Story 1: News item 1/News item 2/Journal paper
Story 2: Journal paper
Story 3: News item/Journal paper
Story 4: News item/Journal paper
Story 5: News item/Pre-Journal paper

Other interesting stories:

• A marine species’ genome shows that it is missing many genes but it can fix a lot of nitrogen
• A company, Osprey Biotechnics, is doing many cool things with bacteria
• A survey of intestinal microbes suggests the more the better
• Extremophiles in Yellowstone
• Nanofactories monitor bacterial communication
• Engineering bacteria to produce bee silk
• Getting corn to work with bacteria to fix its own nitrogen
• As microscopes watch bacteria, a new micro-ear could listen to them
• Using soil fungi to compost waste plastics
• Traces of microbes found to have colonized meteor crater
• Using bacteria to prevent food spoilage
• How an ocean organism turns carbon dioxide into sugar
• Intestinal microbes influence obesity
• Organism switches between amoeba-like and swimming cell

BacterioFiles Episode 6

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Category: BacterioFiles

Created on Sunday, 21 February 2010 00:00

Written by Jesse Noar

In this show, I report on three exciting stories: a bullet-shaped virus that could fight cancer, engineering a new genetic code, and purifying water using bacteria.

Download Episode (8 MB, 8 minutes)

Story 1: News item/Journal paper
Story 2: News item/Journal paper
Story 3: News item/Press release

Post questions or comments here or email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes

This show features music from Mevio's podsafe Music Alley.

BacterioFiles Episode 5

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Category: BacterioFiles

Created on Sunday, 07 February 2010 00:00

Written by Jesse Noar

In this show, I report on four exciting stories: how rotifers do without sex, making diesel fuel using bacteria, a plant virus that tricks insects into spreading it, and how bacteria boost the immune system.

Download Episode (11 MB, 12 minutes)

Show notes:

Story 1: News item/Journal paper/Science Friday video
Story 2: News item/Journal paper
Story 3: News item/Journal paper
Story 4: News item/Journal paper

Other interesting stories:

• Squid and its glowing symbiotic bacteria synchronize their activities
• About bacteria evolving complexity
• Engineering bacteria to produce silk

BacterioFiles Episode 4

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Category: BacterioFiles

Created on Sunday, 24 January 2010 00:00

Written by Jesse Noar

In this show, I report on four exciting stories: using slime molds to design networks, bacteria working together to reduce environmental damage, a stomach germ that helps prevent tuberculosis, and bacterial colonies that flash in synchrony.

Download Episode (10 MB, 11 minutes)

Show notes:
Story 1: News item/Journal paper
Story 2: News item/Journal paper
Story 3: News item/Journal paper
Story 4: News item/Journal paper

Nature video for story 4:

• Bacteria detoxify selenium in soil
• Scientists find heat-loving organisms in Arctic waters and trace them to their probable origins
• Distillery plans to use bacteria to digest yeasty waste, using the resulting methane to produce electricity (or power local cars), ultimately reducing costs
• Scientists find that eating lots of apples may lead to more good bacteria in the gut
• Researchers discover that some kinds of bacteria have membrane-bound internal structures, which were once thought to only exist in eukaryotes (like animals and plants)
• Development of a potential probiotic treatment for Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Post questions or comments here or email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Thanks for listening!

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This show features music from Mevio's podsafe Music Alley.

BacterioFiles Episode 3

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Category: BacterioFiles

Created on Sunday, 10 January 2010 00:00

Written by Jesse Noar

In this show, I report on four exciting stories: a new giant virus, bacteria that fight cancer, ancient microbial DNA, and using viruses to modify plants.

Download Episode (8 MB, 9 minutes)

Show notes:
Story 1: News item/Journal paper
Story 2: News item/Journal paper
Story 3: News item/Journal paper
Story 4: News item/Journal paper


Post questions or comments here or email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes

This show features music from Mevio's podsafe Music Alley.

BacterioFiles Episode 2

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Category: BacterioFiles

Created on Sunday, 27 December 2009 00:00

Written by Jesse Noar

In this show, I report on three exciting stories plus one more: bacteria turning tiny gears, a way bacteria can produce electricity, how microbe exposure early in life could protect the heart, and how bacteria could prevent mosquito-borne diseases.

Download Episode (12 MB, 13.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Story 1: News item/Journal paper/Videos
Story 2: News item/Journal paper
Story 3: News item/Journal paper
Story 4: News item/Journal paper

Post questions or comments here or email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes

This show features music from Mevio's podsafe Music Alley.

BacterioFiles Episode 1

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Category: BacterioFiles

Created on Sunday, 13 December 2009 00:00

Written by Jesse Noar

In this show, I outline my plans, and then report on three exciting stories: microbial symbiosis with herbivorous ants, self-destructing cyanobacteria, and a bacterial immune system.

Download Episode (10 MB, 11 minutes)

Show notes:

Story 1: News item/Journal paper
Story 2: News item/Journal paper
Story 3: News item/Journal paper

Post questions or comments here or email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes

This show features music from Mevio's podsafe Music Alley.